for an objective he seeks through that act attains that objective only after the act. If that objective, which is the cause, is assumed to be eternal, then the act must all the more be eternal.

Thus, if it were said that He acts for an eternal reason, this would entail that nothing ever comes into being, contrary to what is observed. If, however, it were said that He acts for a temporally originated reason, two untenable consequences would follow.

The first is that He would be a locus of temporal occurrences. For if the reason is separate from Him and produces no effect upon Him, its existence cannot be preferable to its nonexistence with respect to Him. If it is assumed to produce an effect upon Him, that effect would be temporally originated, and temporal occurrences would therefore subsist in Him.

The second untenable consequence is that this entails an infinite regress in two respects.

First, that temporally originated reason sought through the act is itself something Allah Most High brings into being through His power and will. If He brings it into being for no reason, this entails purposelessness, as explained above. If He does so for a reason, the same alternatives arise again. Thus, if everything He brings into being is brought into being for a reason, and that reason is itself something He brings into being, an infinite regress of temporal occurrences necessarily follows.

Second, that reason must be intended either for its own sake or for another reason. If it is intended for its own sake, it cannot have a temporal beginning, because Allah Most High does not delay bringing into being something He wills for its own sake and has the power to bring about. If it is intended for the sake of something else, the same argument applies to that other thing, and an infinite regress necessarily follows. These and similar arguments are advanced by those who deny that Allah Most High’s actions and rulings are based on reasons.

The second possibility:

This is the position of those who hold the final cause to be eternal, just as they hold the efficient cause to be